Method for producing roofing material



S. H GOLDBERG. METHOD FOR PRODUCING ROOFING MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED DEC.26, 1 912. RENEWED DEC. 2. 1919.

Patentd July 6, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I S. H GOLDBERG.

METHOD FOR PRODUCING ROOFING MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED DEC.26. 1912. RENEWED DEC. 2. 1919 1,345,922, Patented July 6, 1920, Q. SHEETS-SHEET 2- WWW "WI ll I I] u fl'fl w 11. ..ml v v T 6rd? o WIN I "III" W I 58 M i JWWWM O W @EPEFOTFLELW UNITED S TATES PATENT OFFlCE.

SOLOMON n. GOLDBERG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WEST coAsr ROOFING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A C

PORATION OF ILLINOIS.

METHOD FOR PRODUCING ROOFING MATERIAL,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1920.

Application filed December 26, 1912, Serial No. 738,612. Renewed December 2, 1919. Serial NO. 342,014.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SOLOMON H. Groin- BERG, of the city of Chicago and county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods for Producing Roofing Material, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a method for producing roofing material, particularly such material in the form of lengths of backing material such as paper or felt, treated or saturated with asphaltum compounds or other material, and to one of whose surfaces gravel, grit, sand or other surfacing material is applied.

' In roofing material of this class it is very desirable that more or less ornamental effect be produced, as for "example imitation of shinglin or tiling. Such shinglmg or tiling e ect has heretofore been produced in some cases by applying coloring material to thefinished roofin lengths, and in other cases areas of the roofing material have been depressed in order to give the desired effect. The coloring scheme is of course very ex pensive and the depressing scheme is injurious to the roofing stock. One of the,

important objects of the invention is to provide a simplified method for producing such Ornamental effect. Generally stated, the method consists in applying continuous pattern lengths to roofing material backing lengths on which'one surface has been made adhesiveso that the pattern lengths will cling thereto and arrange themselves smoothly thereon, the backing length after application of the pattern lengths receiving application of gravel orother coating material which material will cling and adhere to the adhesive areas but. will not adhere to areas or lines formed by the pattern and surrounding the adhesive areas. After the loose surfacing material is removed from the pattern lines, the finished stock has a surface having the appearance of shin gling or tiling, the pattern lines representing the outlines ,of shingles 0r tiles or any other ornamental units.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 7 38,611 I have disclosed a method and means for cutting pattern lengths and for protecting the pattern lengths after cutting, it being impossible to apply a flimsy and delicate pattern length by hand to the roofing material backing length or to apply it thereto dlrectly from the roll. The delicate pattern lengths are therefore wound up on a roll with a length of backing material which rolls are applied to deliver the pattern length to the roofing material backing length in such a manner that the backing material ment with the roofing material backinglengths form important features of the invention herein.

In the accompanying drawings is shown apparatus and mechanisms adaptable for carrying out the various steps of the improved process, and in these drawings Figure 1 is a'more or less diagrammatical layout in vertical section showing the varlous steps of control and treatment of the roofing lengths and showing particularly thi? method of applying the pattern lengths;

1g. 2 view of the pattern roll supporting mechanism and the adjusting mechanism for controlling the feed of the pattern lengths;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the mechanism of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view clearly showing the manner of applying the pattern lengths;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a section of finished roofing product; and r r Fig. 6 is a section taken on plane 6-6,

Referring to Fig. 1, 10 and 11 represent .upper and lower rolls, the upper roll being driven in a suitable manner as by belt 12 driven from shaft 13. The body or backingvlet of the roofing material is propelled is an enlarged front elevational.

through these rollers and has a suitable coatthe backing .14. Between the outlet of the hopper and the roll 10 the supporting mechanism for the pattern lengths is positioned, this mechanism being represented as a whole by F. In this mechanism a roll on which a pattern length 9 is wound, is adapted to be driven to unroll the pattern so that it may travel with the roofing backing 14. Where shingle or tile effect is desired to be produced, the patterns consist of interconnected lines or ribbons of thin stock, such as paper, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4. The pattern, upon reaching the traveling backing 14, adheres to the sticky surface thereof and by gravity will arrange itself and adhere to the backing and will then present a smooth nonadhesive surface or lines representative of shingles, tiles or the like, and to which surfacing material will not adhere. Therefore, when the backing together with the pattern -super-posed thereon receives gravel or other surfacing material from the hopper 19, it will retain the surfacing material only at the sticky areas and the gravel deposited on the pattern lines will fall off or can be readily brushed off. Preferably however, the backing 14 with its charge of coating material is given a reverse bend about the upper and lower rollers 21 and 22 in order that the loose surfacing material may drop therefrom into a receptacle 23 from which it is conveyed away as by means of a screw 24. The surfacing material is also preferably forced more intimately into engagement with the sticky areas and after passage about rolls 21 and 22 the roofing stock may pass about rollers 25 and 26 and between the compression rollers 27 and'28.

It may also be desirable to face the lower side of the roofing backing for strengthening purposes. For this purpose a support .29 is provided for pivoting a supply roll 30 of facing material 31 such as burlap, this burlap passing between the rolls 10 and 11 and below the backing 14 to be pressed against said backing. in order to cause the facing to adhere to the backing, the lower roll 11 may dip into a pan 32 containing material such as asphaltum which may be heated by means of steam .coils 33. As the 'rolls 10 and 11 are now rotated, the asphaltum or other material is spread over the top of the backing 14 and the material from pan 32 is carried up by roller 11 and squeezed through the porous burlap and against the bottom of the backing, the burlap being thus caused to adhere firmly and smoothly to the backing and being saturated at the same time with material from pan 32. Before the backing, with the facing and pattern applied thereto, reaches the dumping rolls and compression rolls, the asphaltum or other material applied thereto should be sufficiently cool so as not to stick to the rolls. To assure that the plastic coating will not stick to these rolls, a rotary dusting brush 34 may be mounted below the roofing stock as it comes from the gravel hopper, suitable dust or powder being fed to the brush from pan 35 which is replenished by means of a conveyer belt 36. If necessary the top of the roofing stock may also be powdered or dusted and to this end a chute or duct 37 is provided for delivering powder or dust. Upon passage of the material about the dumping rolls, the surplus powder will be thrown off so that after the material'emerges from the pressure rolls 27 and 28 all interposed sticky surfaces will have been powdered. Of course instead of powder or dust, other material such as grit or sand may be applied to cover over the sticky interposed surfaces. The appearance of the finished product is clearly represented in Fig. 5 and also in Fig. 6.

The mechanism for controlling accurately the feeding of the patterns, is shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. A beam 38 supports hangers 39 in which is journaled a shaft 40, this shaft supporting a pulley 41 driven by belt 41' from the main drive shaft 13. Secured to and extending downwardly from bearing frames 42 and 42 on shaft 40 is a supporting structure comprising side frames 43 and 43. At the bottom these side frames support bearing brackets 44 and 44' for journaling the shaft 45 which supports the roll 46 on which-a pattern length 19 is wound together with a length 2) of backing'material. The bearing boxes of the bearing brackets are open at the top as shown in Fig. 3 so that the shaft may be lifted therefrom in order that the empty roll may be removed and a fresh roll applied, and to prevent endwise play of the shaft an annular groove 47' therein is engaged by a plate 48 secured to the bracket side. Above the brackets 44 and 44' other brackets 49 and 49 support a shaft 50 for mounting a takeup roll 51 for taking up the backing material b. In the co-pending application referred to is described the manner in which pattern lengths are wound up on rolls each with a strip of backing material, and it is these filled rolls which are applied to the shaft, the rolls being adapted to he slid off is fed to the take-up rolls to be used over again in connection with other pattern lengths.

The shaft 50 supporting the takesup rolls 51, supports at one end the gear 52 meshing with the transmission gear 53 supported from the shaft 43 and which is driven by a gear 54 on shaft 40. The supporting frame for the rolls is bodily shiftable along shaft so and the gear 54 is sufficiently Wide so as to mesh at all times with the transmission gear 53. The backing band 5 acts as a belt for driving the roll 46 which delivers to the roofing backing 14 the pattern lengths.

The pattern should of course travel at all times at the same speed as the backing in order that it may accurately and smoothly adhere thereto. A friction wheel 55 is secured to the shaft 50 and is engaged by a friction band 56 secured at one end to a bracket 57 and at its other end looping about a disk 58 eccentrically mounted on a stub shaft 59 extending from frame part 42. A grip frame 60 is secured to the disk so that it may be rotated to adjust the frictional engagement of the band with the wheel, clamping of the wheel 55 resulting in more or less slip of the driving belt L2. By means of a handle 60 the supporting frame structure may also be readily moved bodily along the shaft 40.

The details of operation of the pattern feeding mechanism can be clearly understood from the above description. When a filled roll 46 is applied to shaft 45 the end of the backing to the intake roll 51 and the end of the pattern length 70 is applied to the roofing backing 14. By shifting the' pattern roll supporting structure back and forth along shaft 40 and by operating the brake mechanism, the pattern can be caused to accurately and smoothly adhere to the adhesive surface of the backing without being subjected to strain of any kind, the pattern being fed fast enough that it will at all times be slightly slack that it may be free to fall by gravity into proper position on the backing. It will be noted that the pattern supply roll 46 is close to the roofing backing so that the guiding and smoothing effect of the backing material is maintained practically up to the time that the pattern engages with the backing. After one pattern length is unrolled, a fresh roll is applied to shaft 45 and the filled roll 51 is transferred to another machine to be wound up on an in-take roll together with another pattern length.

Fig. 5 shows one design of finished roofing product, the uncovered pattern ribbons outlining the coveredsections which are representative of shingles or tiles.

By means of my improved process, surfacingcan be very quickly and efficiently' applied to roofing backing in any desired design, and the accurate application of the pattern to the backing will cause the designs to be accurate and symmetrical. Changes and modifications in the process are of course possible and I do not desire to be limited except as pointed out in the appended claims which are as follows 1. The method of coating a flexible roofing surface with a granular coating material arranged in designs, which consists in applying bituminous adhesive substance to said surface, covering a portion of said surface with a relatively light pattern strip, and applying the granular coating material over said surface not covered by the pattern.

2. The method of design surfacing a length of roofing material which consists in causing the roofing length to travel, applying adhesive substance to the top surface of the roofing length, feeding a pattern length to said adhesive surface, applying surfacing material to the roofing length as it is covered by the pattern length, then defleeting the roofing length so that the loose surfacing material on the pattern covered areas may fall therefrom to leave only the adhesive surfaces covered with the surfacing material. a

3. The method of design surfacing a length of roofing material, which consists in causing the roofing length to travel substantially horizontally, applying adhesive substance to the top surface of the roofing length while the latter is traveling, feeding a pattern length to said adhesive surface, applying surfacing material to the roofing length as it is covered by the pattern length, then deflecting the roofing length so that the loose surfacing material on the pattern covered areas may fall therefrom, toleave only the adhesive surfaces covered with surfacing material and then exerting pressure to intimately associate the surfacing material with the roofing length.

4:. The method of applying surfacing ma; terial in design form to a length of roofing material, which consists in causing a length of roofing backing material to travel and simultaneously unrolling from a roll of pattern and backing material a pattern progressively with the backing length, causing the backing material to follow the pattern substantially up to the line of application thereof to the roofing length, applying adhesive substance to the roofing length before application of the pattern thereto, and then applying surfacing material to the patterncovered surface, the surfacing material adhering to the exposed adhesive areas and being prevented by the pattern from adhering to the areas or lines covered thereby.

5. The process of surfacing a length of backing material which consists in feeding a length of backing material, applying adhesive material to the backing, superimposing a flexible pattern therein, and applying granular surfacing to the adhesive material after the pattern is applied to the backing length.

6. The method of design surfacing a length of flexible roofing material Which consists in causing the roofing length to travel, applying adhesive substance to one surface of the traveling roofing length, applying a pattern length to said adhesive sur face as the length is fed forward in applying the adhesive substance, and then applying granular surfacing material to said coated surface.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 4th day of December, A. D. 1912.

SOLOMOB H. GOLDBERG.

l t itnesses MARK D. GOODMAN, CHARLES J. SCHMIDT. 

